Tuesday, January 24, 2012

News from the Toy Aisle!

As toy collectors, knowledge is important when looking for that new action figure or vehicle. Reports of local and statewide finds are like gold. Which store and how many? What is the DPCI for Target searches? This info can score you the latest as soon or before items hit the shelves.

Here are a few of the finds with a couple of surprises. (At least I was surprised)

Thundercats

New Thundercats at Wal-mart (Cheetara 6 inch not shown but read the review here: Cheetara )
Also the 6 inch Classics found at Target and Wal-Mart: Lion-O review

Superboy and Sportsmaster: 6-inch YJ (Reports of all Young Justice being clearanced at some Wal-Marts)

The new 2-packs apparently are coming with pieces to build Amazo! Pretty neat and shocking. Maybe I just wasn't paying attention since this line is kinda lame due to articulation. (I won't be reviewing these. No way am I buying them.)

DC Universe Classics

Wave 20 has shipped from BBTS.com and has been rumored to have been found at Wal-Marts.
Reviewed here: Wave 20
Wal-Mart has raised their prices on these AGAIN! I believe Target did as well. Yuck...

Star Wars

The Phantom Menace has been leaking out all over! Target has had the vintage for a while now. The Clone Wars and New Legends type (Don't really care what the line's name is) have been found at Wal-Marts and the vehicles at Wal-Mart and TRU. The only interesting figure in The Clone Wars is the new Mark Clone Trooper, but still it is The Clone Wars... The prices have been raised for TCW and the Legends at Wal-Mart to $8.96 and Target has their vintage at $9.99.

A lot of GI Joe hit Wal-Mart right before Christmas and has been relatively hard to find since. Rumors of TRU and Walgreens all over forums (although I have been unlucky at both). But with a lot of stores still with pegs, I expect to see more of these waves soon. It reminds me a lot of the Generations Warpath wave and the initial hit months before it was EVERYWHERE. Target has raised prices on these as well $8.99 in these parts and higher elsewhere...

6 comments:

The DC Young Justice figures continue the appeal of the DC JLU animated style figures. Same articulation. These are some of the best sculpted figures out right now and I look forward to collecting them all. Even though the many re-paints are lame. Criticizing these figures for their articulation seems kind of strange if a person claims to be a longtime figure collector.

Following the evolution of action figures as a long time figure collector, you will find articulation to be a big part of the collectors concern. With lines such as GI Joe and Star Wars, you will find great sculpts and fantastic articulation at a price point similar to YJ 4 inch figures. I assume carded collectors may not find articulation as important as non-carded, but lines such as GL Movie and DC infinite heroes have died in part because of the lack of articulation. Claiming sculpt is everything and articulation isn't as important is not something I will ever do.

So you consider articulation the most important factor in a figure. I collect figures like the Young Justice line that have more traditional and simple articulation and I also collect any number of more articulated lines. I do know that I'm tired of people such as yourself who are almost violently bad-mouthing this line. It's a little strange.

Ah people like me, got it... A figure consists of different qualities: articulation, sculpt (including likeness of subject), paint, packaging, accessories, execution, and quality control. If you fail in one, you need to excel in other areas. Considering the line is similar to many ways MU (which fails in QC a lot of the time) yet MU figs are cheaper and have a ton of articulation. I believe it comes down to Mattel not being to execute figures of that scale like Hasbro can. Which is super disappointing. The fact JL and JLU figures lacked articulation (I purchased them the first two years) does not set the standard for every DC line to follow. I personally need a good sculpt, good articulation (I play with my toys), and sharp paint with great QC. I love the YJ 6" line and I have them all. I love Young Justice. I follow the show. The 4" figures are a let down and will not be in my collection. And I'm not afraid to talk about it. Maybe Mattel will listen and give us a line as good as this: http://geek-news.mtv.com/2011/04/29/hasbro-gi-joe-poc-snake-eyes-silence-is-golden/

I need a Batman that rivals that Snake Eyes in 4" scale. And I would pay $10 for it. I won't pay $10 for a figure with articulation from 1977.

From my previous comment: "I personally need a good sculpt, good articulation (I play with my toys), and sharp paint with great QC." Sculpt alone won't do it for me. If i was only after sculpt, I would have large DC Direct statue collection.